‘Three men have been jailed for their part in running a vast underground cannabis farm in a former nuclear bunker in Wiltshire, staffed by young Vietnamese workers who were held in slave-like conditions.’

‘In the case of Hrabkova v Secretary of State for Work and Pension [2017] EWCA Civ 794, the Court of Appeal confirmed once again that self-employed individuals do not have the same rights as workers under EU law. The specific question in this case was whether a person with a child at school who had been self employed and ceased work might be entitled to claim Employment Support Allowance.’

‘The enforced removal of some people from Britain on escorted chartered flights falls short of humane treatment, with some leaving the country in waist restraint belts or leg restraints almost as a default, according to an official watchdog.

‘A coroner has called for changes to the way Home Office officials in Calais and Dunkirk deal with vulnerable child refugees after a 17-year-old Kurdish refugee fled Isis in Iraq only to be crushed under the wheels of a lorry while trying to seek sanctuary in the UK.’

‘The Supreme Court has allowed appeals in R (Kiarie) and R (Byndloss) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 42 by persons whom the Home Secretary wished to deport even before they had had a chance to appeal to a tribunal on human rights grounds against the deportation decision. It has concluded that the very system of appealing from abroad in such cases simply does not provide an effective right of appeal.’

‘In March 2017 the Home Office has announced a new policy of reviewing whether all refugees require protection at the end of a 5 year initial period of Refugee Status. This policy is effective for all existing and future applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain (“ILR”) as a Refugee. This policy has now been effective for three months and, with Refugee Week upon us, it is a good opportunity to delve into it in greater detail.’

‘The claimant, a national of Pakistan, had limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom. A few days before the expiry of his leave he applied for an extension of his period of leave. The Secretary of State rejected that application on the grounds that it had not been accompanied by the required fee. Since the claimant had no right of appeal against this rejection, he submitted a renewed application accompanied by the required fee. The Secretary of State refused that application on the merits, informing the claimant that he had no right of appeal against her refusal since his renewed application had been made at a time when he had no leave to remain. The claimant sought judicial review of the Secretary of State’s determination that he had no right of appeal, contending that he had had leave to remain at the time of making his renewed application since his leave had been automatically extended pursuant to section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 when he made his original application for an extension, and was still continuing. The claimant was granted permission to proceed with his claim, but at the full hearing the Upper Tribunal dismissed the claim on the basis that the claimant had an alternative remedy in the form of an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal.’

‘Up to 250,000 people drop off the radar and end up as illegal immigrants in Britain every year, according to secret Home Office figures, amid warnings that border controls are completely ineffective and will only get worse after Brexit. David Wood, who was head of immigration enforcement at the Home Office until 2015, said that more than 1.2million illegal immigrants are currently living in Britain, predominantly after overstaying their visas.’